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Grinnellians in town this summer can grab some free popcorn and enjoy old and new classics at the College’s Movies under the Stars nights.
Upcoming movies:
Friday, July 18:
Animated fantasy-comedy Frozen
Friday, Aug. 8:
Heartwarming sports drama The Blind Side
All movies are...

Grinnellians ask a lot of themselves. To do our best, we have to be at our best.
President Raynard S. Kington is challenging Grinnellians to get healthier, happier, and more productive by joining him in a new wellness program.
The President’s Wellness Challenge is a 12-week...

Grinnell College presents The Metropolitan Opera’s productions of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Bela Bartók’s Bluebeards Castle live in high-definition at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, in Harris Center Cinema. Refreshments will be available for sale in the lobby of the cinema...

The 2014 Grinnell Prize — a $100,000 award honoring young innovators in social justice — will be presented by Grinnell College to founders of two organizations making the world a healthier, cleaner place.
The winners were selected from among 211 nominees who represent 34 ...

Three Grinnell College students have been chosen as Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows (MMUF): Alexandra Odom ’16, Jermaine Stewart-Webb ’16, and Connie Wang ’16. They are the sixth MMUF cohort from Grinnell.
“Mellon is such an incredible opportunity and it’s so life-changing,”...

Grinnell College students will have the chance to question a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist during the opening of “A Century of War: 1914 and Beyond.”
Chris Hedges spent two decades as a war correspondent, most of them with the New York Times. On Sept. 16, he will
Head a...

Tayler Chicoine ’14 often can be found on an environmental mission, testing the waters of Little Bear Creek in Grinnell, Iowa.
Like many Grinnell students, Chicoine has taken full advantage of Grinnell College’s exceptional array of internships, Mentored Advanced Projects, and...

By the time the first customers visit her farmers market stand in Knoxville, Tenn., Dale Mackey ’07 has been awake for hours, frying and packaging hundreds of her signature palm-size pies.
Fried pies are a well-known southern treat, but not one that Mackey, originally from...

A look at the life of The Emir Abd el-Kader, for whom the town of Elkader, Iowa, was named in 1846.
A three-day symposium held Sept. 21–23 will reflect on the life of the Emir Abd el-Kader (1808–83). Described as an exemplary Muslim, the celebrated military hero of Algeria...

For her class Making History: 1968, Diane Lenertz ’15 visited the Grinnell College archives. She looked at some of the underground newspapers and other student publications from the late 1960s and early 1970s, and also some of the FBI documents about the College.
“I thought it...

Abby Rapoport ’08 recently weighed in on the Texas voter id law, voting rights, and American politics in a panel discussion on MSNBC’s Up w/ Steve Kornacki.
As a staff writer for American Prospect and the “resident Texas expert” on the panel, she discussed the history of the...

Spoken-word artist Malcolm London has been called the “Gil Scott-Heron of this generation.”
The young activist visits campus Saturday, Nov. 1, for two events.
At 3 p.m., Grinnellians who recently took part in a rally in Feguson, Mo. join London for a group discussion in the Joe...

Author and human rights activist Richard E. Lapchick — often described as the "racial conscience of sport" — will discuss “Addressing Socioeconomic Diversity: The Power of Sport to Heal” at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 in Harris Center Cinema.
Lapchick is a pioneer for racial...

Campus committees abound at Grinnell and are among the numerous ways for students to leave their footprint. High student participation in campus committees may be an obvious result of self-governance.
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Make Your Mark
A small sample of current campus committees hints at the...

Kenji Yoshino ’11, a Science Learning Center post-baccalaureate fellow at Grinnell College, has created a digital microscope made from a smartphone, a cheap laser pointer lens, and a few things from the hardware store. It’s a contraption that anyone can construct with $10 worth...

Jocelyn Wyatt ’99 understands the power of good advice. Fourteen years ago, the anthropology major wanted to travel internationally and change the world. She took a professor’s advice and now leads an international nonprofit organization.
These days when she speaks with students...

Philip Deloria, professor of history and Native American studies at the University of Michigan, will deliver a Scholars’ Convocation on “American Indians in the American Popular Imagination” at noon Wednesday, April 16, in Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101. The talk, which is...

In 1993, a tomb in Hubei Province, China, produced a trove of ancient texts as significant as the Dead Sea scrolls. The collection of Confucian and Daoist texts from around 300 B.C. is shedding new light on ancient Chinese philosophy, which is why Scott Cook, professor of...

Students in professor J. Montgomery Roper’s Practicing Anthropology class took their studies to the community in the fall semester, performing studies on behalf of local organizations. They used surveys, interviews with local experts, focus groups, archival research, and hours...

“Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years?” That’s often the eye-rolling question in a first interview.
For Natalie Larson ’06, the quick answers could be “NASA,” “Norway,” and “ ’net congestion” — a few of her hefty résumé builders since graduating with honors as an art major...

New York artist Greg Smith returns to Grinnell for a gallery talk on Tuesday, February 25 at 4:15. Smith’s two video installations are currently on view in Faulconer Gallery (through March 16). Both videos, Loop and Breakdown Lane, concern the artist as an ‘artifice mechanic,’...

Sometimes it’s who you know. That’s how the Faulconer Gallery at Grinnell College became the site of Greg Smith’s exhibition “Quality Uncertainty: The Market for Lemons.”
Smith received a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in 2013 based on his proposal for “Breakdown Lane,” one of...

8,700 miles and 18 hours on his first plane ride separate Bazil Mupisiri ’18 from his hometown in Zimbabwe. Yet, it’s the milestones, not the miles, that truly set this first-year student apart.
Bazil (pronounced Bay-zl) first learned about Grinnell through the U.S. Student...

Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate T. Geronimo Johnson will give a reading as part of the Writers@Grinnell creative writing series.
Johnson will speak at 4:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 in the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101. This event is free and open to the public.
Johnson’s work...

The annual Bachelor of Arts Exhibition (BAX), formerly the Annual Student Art Salon, begins April 11 in Faulconer Gallery. BAX is a professional exhibition of mature student works in the creative arts, including visual and performing arts.
Student Organized
Student organizers...

Special Collections and Archives invites you to the second annual Break Open the Vault! event from 8 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, Burling Library Special Collections and Archive.
This is a rare opportunity to see a wide range of artifacts, memorabilia and other treasures from...

The 14 students in physics Professor Charles Cunningham’s Bridges, Towers, and Skyscrapers course had the opportunity to experience the mind-broadening effects of world travel over spring break.
This 100-level physics class is one of several courses that incorporates travel into...

In a historic neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, Grinnell alumni Justin Booz ’10 and Monica Wizgird ’08 have transformed a long-vacant lot into a thriving urban garden. The Pullman neighborhood is one of Chicago’s “food deserts,” areas without ready access to grocery stores....

Psychology major Fanchao (Frank) Zhu ’15 never expected to receive intensive business preparation as a liberal arts student. A scholarship through the College’s Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS) has changed his perspective.
The psychology major from Nanjing, China...

The Center for Careers, Life, and Service is developing a recruiting relationship with Cambridge Associates LLC, a privately held independent consulting firm. The firm, headquartered in Arlington, Va., provides consulting and investment oversight services to more than 900...

A note arrives out of the blue: Pick up your care package at the mailroom window. It’s from someone you don’t know, someone who doesn’t know you, and the only thing you have in common is Grinnell.
In this not-so-random act of kindness, born of a Facebook-group discussion, more...

Woodland Wildflower Hike
Join Elizabeth Hill, manager of Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), on a woodland wildflower hike at CERA on Thursday, May 1.
Spring ephemeral wildflowers grow and flower before the forest trees leaf out and are only around for a few weeks. On the...

A political expert will discuss the Tea Party and reactionary politics on the heels of a highly charged and historic election season.
Chris Parker, associate professor and Stuart A. Scheingold professor of social justice and political science at the University of Washington,...

Charles Platter ’81, professor of classics at the University of Georgia, presented a Roberts Lecture “Killing Socrates” at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, in ARH Room 102. His talk was sponsored by the Department of Classics.
Platter discussed Plato’s Apology, in particular a...

Assistant Professor of History Matthew Johnson’s new book China’s iGeneration: Cinema and Moving Image Culture for the Twenty-First Century, co-edited by Luke Vulpiani, Keith B. Wagner, and Kiki Tianqi Yu, has been released as an open access (OA) publication with support from...

Are you ready to shape your own learning? The individually advised curriculum at Grinnell College puts you in charge.
There’s only one required course outside of your major, the First-Year Tutorial. So each semester you’ll have 16­–18 credits for exploring the academic world....

The 168th Commencement of Grinnell College is complete.
Celebrate the accomplishments of our seniors as they begin their post-Grinnell journeys.
View the full ceremony, the presidential charge to the graduates, and honorary degree recipients speeches..
Follow and join the...

A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Nick Hunter ’15 is used to the Iowa State Fair. Named the “world’s greatest state fair” by Buzzfeed, it’s internationally acclaimed and a regular entry on best state fair lists from The Travel Channel to Country Living. With more than a million...

In the 61 years after it was first summited, Mount Everest has called tens of thousands of climbers to its icy trails. They focus on death-defying physical and mental achievements, but they face a more mundane summons on the mountain: nature’s call.
Every climbing season, up to...

International first-year students gather on campus a week early for Grinnell’s International Pre-Orientation Program (IPOP).
“IPOP helps international and global nomad students find their feet on campus,” says Karen Edwards, associate dean and director of international student...

The mention of dining hall food tends to conjure up images of soggy pizza and stale burger buns. Not so with Grinnell’s dining hall. This year, Grinnell made The Daily Meal’s list of the 75 best colleges for food in America.
Dining services has a number of ways to make sure the...

Please join us for a book celebration for David Cook-Martín, associate professor of sociology, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3 in Burling Library Lounge. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Cook-Martín will read from his new book Culling the...

The “open exchange of ideas” described in Grinnell’s mission statement does not end at the edge of campus.
Susan Sanning, director of service learning and civic engagement, facilitated a curricular service learning collaboration — a workshop for medical students at Des Moines...

“Dark Commander: The Art of John Scott” opened in the Faulconer Gallery Friday, Oct. 10, with a conversation with the artist and Faulconer Gallery curator Daniel Strong. It runs through Dec. 14, 2014.
This retrospective is the first exhibition in the United States for Scott, who...

Grinnell College Dean Michael Latham will deliver the Scholars’ Convocation titled "Development at War: The United States and Modernization in South Vietnam."
His talk examines how the U.S. responded to global decolonization in the midst of the Cold War, and the role that...

Christine Ajinjeru ’14 traveled nearly 8,000 miles to get to Grinnell College. Sarah Burnell ’14 went less than 8 blocks. Despite their differences—cultural, geographic, and otherwise—or perhaps because of them, the two Academic All-American track stars have become best friends...

Jen Brooks ’15 sits in a yoga-like pose on a blue gymnastics mat on the floor of her bedroom in Lazier Hall. She faces a wide-screen Mac on a table about 4 inches off the floor. Flowers and 21st birthday cards decorate the nearby windowsill.
Using a joystick and a separate...

Jonathan Kozol, a nationally recognized expert on education and New York Times bestselling author, will deliver a lecture at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, in Herrick Chapel. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Kozol has devoted most of his life to the challenge of providing...

OPERA Iowa, a division of the Des Moines Metro Opera, is performing Donizetti’s comic masterpiece Elixir of Love at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in Roberts Theatre. No tickets are necessary for this free public performance.
Elixir of Love is a tale of star-crossed lovers who...

Halfway through high school, Brian Lawson ’06 decided that engineering would be a good career path. He liked working on cars and his dad is an electrical engineer.
So he applied to engineering schools — and Grinnell.
Lawson chose Grinnell with the intention of pursuing the 3-2...

Situated in the basement of the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Lyle’s Pub is a student-run campus watering hole where students, faculty, and staff can mingle and interact freely outside of class.
The eponymous Lyle — Lyle Bauman — was a dining staff member who recently passed away....

Grinnell College and the University of Iowa have received a $1.6 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop humanities-centered collaborations that expand the use of digital technology among faculty and students.
The new partnership is distinctive because it...

Tweeting, the Inez Louise Henely 1914 Best in Show-winner at the 2014 Bachelor of Arts Exhibition (BAX), is a series of 14 pieces of handmade paper with watermarks of text from Twitter.
The artist, Delia Salomon ’14, explains what led her to create this work. “When I learned how...

How can we feed 9 billion people by 2050? Anthony Wenndt ’15 is on it.
Wenndt is passionate about tackling issues related to hunger relief and food insecurity. In his latest adventures, Wenndt spent the summer in a lab at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural...

Grinnellians in town this summer can grab some free popcorn and enjoy old and new classics at the College’s Movies under the Stars nights.
Friday, June 20:
Classic coming of age comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Friday, July 18:
Animated fantasy-comedy Frozen
Friday, Aug. 8:...

Ruth Isaac ’17 enjoyed her Making History class last fall and wanted to take another history course in the spring. With her interest in the Civil War, she selected The American Civil War and Reconstruction with Professor Sarah Purcell ’92.
What Isaac didn’t know until the class...

Choosing which colleges to apply to, filling out application forms, and figuring out financial aid—those aren’t easy tasks no matter who you are or where you’re from.
Those tasks can be even more stressful if your parents or guardians didn’t go through it themselves and you need...

Before classes begin, the Grinnell Science Project (GSP) brings together selected students who are interested in science and creates a community that helps them feel comfortable with college life both inside and outside the classroom.
“GSP was a huge blessing. For one thing, the...

Fox Sports featured Coach David Arseneault and “The System” — Grinnell’s fast-paced, high-scoring, record-setting basketball.
“As far as I know, the game is still about trying to outscore the opponent,” says Arseneault.
Not only does the video refer to “Coach A” as a “mad...

Vanity Fair proclaimed him “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade,” and the London Jazz Review says he is “simply one of the most resourceful, sensitive and versatile jazz pianists on the planet."
On Oct. 1–2, jazz pianist and six-time Grammy...

Ahsan Rahim '11's path to a finance career started in his native Islamabad, Pakistan, took him to Grinnell College in Iowa, and landed him in New York City.
A portfolio analyst at Alliance Bernstein, Rahim — and his supervisor, Martin Atkin, an investment director — talk about...

Donor Gifts at Highest Mark During Kington Presidency
Alumni, friends, parents, faculty, students, and foundation and corporation partners made philanthropic gifts totaling $11.2 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, the highest level in the past four years.
“Our...

Jon Cohen ’14 describes the path he took to his independent major in Middle Eastern studies as a happy accident.
When he arrived at Grinnell, Cohen knew he wanted to do something related to the social sciences and learn a new language. He took Arabic and tried out political...

The moon, Jupiter, and Mars will be the featured celestial objects at an open house at Grinnell College’s Grant O. Gale Observatory at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 7.
Robert Cadmus, Breid-McFarland Professor of Science, professor of physics, and observatory director, will lead the...

Susan Klumpner ’09 loves tennis. So much so that she has turned the sport into a vehicle to teach social skills to students in Chicago-area schools, lessons that can mean more in life than a finely tuned backhand.
Klumpner played tennis for Downers Grove High School in Downers...

David Maxwell ’66, president of Drake University since 1999, has announced his plan to retire on June 30, 2015.
Maxwell graduated from Grinnell College with a degree in Russian area studies and received his master’s and doctorate from Brown University.
At Drake, he has worked on...

Scott Turley, executive chef, will take his award-winning lobster dish to a national collegiate dining services competition this summer.
Turley topped eight other Midwestern chefs last month at the National Association of College and University Food Services’ Culinary Challenge...

Grinnell College, Drake University, Central College, Simpson College, and Grand View University have formed the Central Iowa Collaborative Collections Initiative (CI-CCI) to ensure the availability of scholarly materials held by the cooperating institutions through analysis of...

Nominations for the 2015 Grinnell Prize are due by Monday, Dec. 1, 2014.
Grinnell College is seeking nominations for the 2015 Grinnell Prize. The award program — which annually presents winners with a prize of $100,000 — honors innovators who have demonstrated leadership in...

The Grinnell Singers will perform a series of March concerts in Iowa and California as part of a spring break tour.
The 40-voice ensemble will present an evening of distinctive choral music that includes the elevated sounds of English cathedral music by John Sheppard, the...

Grinnell's new Computer Science curriculum and Computer Science major have received international recognition by the major computing professional societies.
Every 10-12 years, the international professional societies for computing publish extensive recommendations regarding...

Emma Lange ’16 has been awarded a federally funded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to support her study abroad during the spring 2015 semester.
Lange plans to study the impact of technology on democracy and citizenship at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in...

Taking part in an internship is one of the most accurate ways to experience the postgraduate world before it becomes your permanent home. Grinnellink internships offer Grinnellians — and only Grinnellians — the chance to try life after college on for size.
These fully funded,...

Happenstance Theater will perform IMPOSSIBLE! A Happenstance Circus at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in Roberts Theatre in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts.
The professional company committed to devising and producing original, performer-created, visual, poetic theater. In the...

Carly Schuna ’06 is the 2014 U.S. Open Wheel Gymnastics Champion.
How did someone who "hates exercise" end up a gymnastics champion? Schuna describes what drew her to the sport. And it's not the gold medals.
Schuna is a freelance writer and editor and a German Wheel instructor...

During spring and summer 2014, the Burling Library exhibition "Harry Duncan ’38 and the Cummington Press" is on display on the main floor and in Burling Gallery on the lower level.
Harry Duncan ’38 printed handmade, limited edition books with a Gutenberg-style press under the...

Herbie Hancock ’60, winner of 16 Grammy awards and an Oscar, was one of five honorees for this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, along with Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, Martina Arroyo, and Shirley MacLaine
“At 73, Hancock is still further ahead of the technological curve than...

Herbie Hancock ’60 has been named the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. The jazz great — who played with Miles Davis in his youth and has influenced innumerable styles of music — will give six lectures as part of the Charles Eliot Norton Lecture...

Kevin Kopelson, professor of English at the University of Iowa, offers a humorous take on “Hollywood Has-Beens” and what we can learn from them about acceptance and delight.
His presentation, complete with film clips, is at 4:15 p.m. Friday, April 18 in ARH Room 102. The free...

Ruth Scodel, the D. R. Shackleton Bailey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Latin in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan, will deliver the ninth annual McKibben Lecture in Classical Studies at 4:15 p.m. Friday, April 25, in the Joe Rosenfield ’25...

Grinnell College announces the loss of a beloved and dedicated member of the Grinnell community. Paul Risser ’61, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, passed away Thursday, July 10, 2014.
Risser was a member of the Board of Trustees since 2007 and was elected vice chair of the...

Balancing Acts, the theatre department’s first production of 2014, is the culmination of a year of research, collaboration, and production. Six students completed a Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) in the summer of 2013 examining how Grinnell residents relate to work. Doug...

Once again, Grinnell has been chosen to host the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
In March 2016, the championship will be contested in the Charles Benson Bear '39 Recreation and Athletic Center. The six-lane, 200-meter track includes an eight-lane...

Karla Erickson will discuss her popular new book How We Die Now: Intimacy and the Work of Dying with a panel of students, faculty, and community members at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the Burling Library Lounge.
This event is open to the public, and light refreshments will...

Rosenfield Program Alum-In-Residence Dorje Gurung ’94, an activist and educator, will speak on “Human Rights and Education of Marginalized People of Nepal” at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, in Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101. The talk is free and open to the public.
While on...

Three Grinnell alumni scientists representing 40 years of the College's history recently told an audience of fellow alums about research in curing diseases such as autism and obesity—and about how entrepreneurs are moving that research into clinical product development.
Lorrie...

President Raynard S. Kington addressed nearly 400 leaders in business and higher education on Monday, May 5, at Colgate University’s Innovation + Disruption symposium at the TimesCenter in New York City.
Kington and five other college and university presidents presented a panel...

Larry Boateng Asante ’17 is a problem solver, although that’s not his official job title.
Asante took a job as a web assistant in the Office of Communications at Grinnell shortly after he arrived in September 2013 as a first-year student.
That was right before the College...

The car is already packed. You spent yesterday frenetically jamming a mishmash of notebooks, stringed Christmas lights, congratulations cards, a mini-fridge, a laundry hamper, plastic bins full of clothes, and assorted other memories into the trunk. Memories of the past four...

Fighting in the Middle East continues to have broad implications for the rest of the world, according to a political analyst who studies the violent groups jockeying for control in Iraq.
Ahmed Ali ’08 will give the talk “Iraq’s Crossroads: ISIS and Political Challenges” at noon...

Ending sexual assault is not the responsibility of a single person, committee, organization, or team. It is the responsibility of the entire Grinnell College community.
That is why the Grinnell College Student Government Association (SGA) has partnered with Generation Progress...

The San Francisco-based Joe Goode Performance Group (JGPG) will present “Hush,” an innovative form of dance-theater, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Tickets are required for the free public performance at Roberts Theatre in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts.
JGPG’s work is...

Scrapbook-making was a popular tradition in the late 19th to mid-20th century. It’s a great way to see how past Grinnellians commemorated their time here — revealing not so much the official or stereotypical image of the times, but the silly, sincere side that reminds us that...

Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies Harold Kasimow, a holocaust survivor, will present a lecture as part of Holocaust Memorial Day activities in Des Moines.
This Sunday, April 27, there will be a service at 1 p.m. at the Iowa Holocaust Memorial.
Kasimow will present "Jewish...

The Grinnellian, who has appeared on The Colbert Report, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Franklin & Bash now is lampooning startups on HBO’s new series Silicon Valley.
The cable television series tackles the tech start-up industry and follows the lives of a group of...

Enjoy homemade cookies and milk at the Libraries study breaks, 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, and Tuesday, Dec. 17.
In the Burling Library Lounge, Ritalin Test Squad will perform on Monday and the Neverland Players will perform on Tuesday.
Cookies will be delivered to Kistle Library,...

Please join us for a quick break from studying with homemade cookies and milk and student performers.
Study breaks are at 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15 and Tuesday, Dec. 16 in the Burling Library Lounge. Con Brio will sing on Monday and the Ritalin Test Squad will perform on Tuesday....

This April marks the beginning of the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which lasted three months.
Former United Nations war crimes prosecutor Don Webster will give a free public talk on “Litigating History/Prosecuting the Rwandan Genocide” at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday,...

“Are we preparing kids to do what they want to do?” asks Keven Seney, principal of Grinnell Community High School (GHS).
Grinnell College students are helping to answer that question with the guidance of Audrey Devine-Eller, assistant professor of sociology.
Since spring 2013,...

The Asia Society recently honored Luna Ranjit ’00, co-founder and executive director of Adhikaar for Human Rights & Social Justice, for her “outstanding achievements, commitment to public service, and desire to make the world a better place.”
The society named her to their...

Historian Tara Zahra will discuss “Exodus from the East: Emigration from Eastern Europe and the Making of the Free World” in a Scholars’ Convocation at noon Sept. 24 in the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center.
Zahra is a professor of history at the University of Chicago and the winner of...

Nick Wilding will discuss “Machinations: Plotting the Early Modern World" at 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 28, in Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101.
He is the latest speaker in the Center for the Humanities series "Science, Technologies, and the Human Condition." The series offers...

Making Music Happen Symposium: Working in the Music Industry Post-GrinnellThursday-Friday, March 6-7, 2014A Grinnellink Event
About the Symposium
More than perhaps any other in recent history, the music industry has engaged in the act of reshaping and redesigning itself. The...

College campuses are constantly changing, but students only see a brief window of this change. A building might be the centerpiece of an institution, but a few years after it has been razed, it resides largely in the minds of alumni and in the College’s archives.
Eric Mistry ’14...

In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Patricia Williams of Columbia Law School and Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic will come to Grinnell College for events on Jan. 19-20. All events are free and open to the public, and will take place in Joe Rosenfield '25 Center, Room...

Grinnell College has once again partnered with New York City’s Metropolitan Opera to offer the Met’s 2013-14 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.
Saturday, March 15, watch Massenet’s Werther. Join Kelly Maynard at 11:30 a.m. for in introductory opera talk. Maynard,...

Emma Lange ’16 has joined the libraries as a summer intern.
Her internship focuses on improving the usability of some of our online resources such as 3Search and Digital Grinnell.
Lange is creating, performing, and analyzing usability tests to see if our users’ experiences match...

Noted scholar and media commentator Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University, will deliver his speech, “Race, Racism, and Race Relations in America,” at 7:30 p.m. April 4 at Herrick Chapel.
“A few members of Concerned Black Students had the chance to...

Grinnell College presents Michael Frayn's 1998 play Copenhagen, a drama that weaves together physics, friendship, and the atomic bomb; it won the Olivier and Tony Awards for best play.
About the Play
An emotionally explosive play of ideas, Copenhagen draws on history, science,...

In a way, you could say the academic drive that eventually led Doug Bechtel ’89 to his new job as executive director of Audubon International started in a Shakespeare class at Grinnell College.
A class in which he struggled.
“The Grinnell faculty fostered in me and my classmates...

Irony can be an effective device in filmmaking, and that isn’t lost on Amanda Gotera ’09. The University of Texas MFA student’s film future was recently recognized by the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, yet Gotera’s films are anything but glamorous fairy tales, and her characters...

As part of America's Historical Newspapers, Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 provides a collection of full text newspapers from 14 states that reflect Hispanic American history, culture, and daily life between 1808-1980.
America's Historical Newspapers contains electronic...

As fall classes begin, the Libraries are pleased to unveil the new Peer Mentoring and Collaboration Space on Burling’s first floor. What is here?
Lots of white boards;
Tables on wheels – move them around as you need;
A stand-up desk (fixed height);
Public and semi-private work...

Iowa residents who are admitted to Grinnell College will automatically be considered for a new scholarship from the Dorrit Walsh Endowed Scholarship Fund. The scholarships will be tentatively available beginning fall 2015.
The late Marilyn Walsh ’50, a native of Woodbine, Iowa...

See what we’re up to! Grinnell College Libraries are pleased to unveil a visualization feature as an enhancement to our discovery tool 3Search.
What can I do with this feature?
You can see how books and other items from Grinnell’s collections matching your search are distributed...

Shane Jacobson joins the College’s staff on June 2 as the new vice-president for development and alumni relations.
Jacobson comes to Grinnell from the University of Vermont Foundation, where he currently serves as vice president for development and campaign manager. Since his...

“Works in Clay” by Jill Davis Schrift, lecturer in art, and “Quality Uncertainty: The Market for Lemons” by New York-based artist Greg Smith will be on display in the Faulconer Gallery from Friday, Jan. 24 through Sunday, March 16.
About “Quality Uncertainty: The Market for...

For the first 15 years of her life, Rae Sikora ate meat with impunity.
“I was eating it every day,” says the activist and ethical vegan. “I never connected the dots.”
Everything changed 43 years ago during an exchange with a clerk at a leather store. That day changed the animal...

Bryan Lake ’02 received a 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching for his work as a kindergarten teacher at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary in Urbana, Ill.
He’ll receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation and a paid trip for two...

On Monday, 15 April 2013, the Grinnell College Faculty voted in favor of a resolution presented by the Open Access Task Force, committing themselves to expanding access to their forthcoming scholarly articles. According to the resolution, faculty give Grinnell College permission...

Organized Rhythm brings their unorthodox combination of percussion and organ to Grinnell in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18 in Herrick Chapel.
Free tickets are required for this public event. They are available beginning noon Thursday, Feb. 13 from Grinnell’s box...

At the Grant O. Gale Observatory and in parks around town, two members of the College community are making sure that children in Grinnell keep their minds working over the summer.
Arts in the Parks
You can’t miss Tilly Woodward’s glitter-covered truck, which appears in parks...

Photos and prints will be on display in the Faulconer Gallery for the first part of the semester. Gordon Parks: The Making of an Argument and Playing It Forward: German Expressionism to Expressionism Today” open with a reception on Friday, Jan. 23.
Gordon Parks: The Making of an...

Eugene Gaub, associate professor of music, will perform Maurice Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin: A Memorial to Friends Killed in the Great War” at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28. This free concert will take place in the Faulconer Gallery.
Ravel, a 20th century French composer,...

**New schedule changes due to weather**
As thousands of athletes prepare to gather in Sochi for the XXII Olympic Winter Games beginning Feb. 7, the eyes of the world are on Russia — and its mercurial leader, Vladimir Putin. To help understand this fascinating and powerful man —...

For many Grinnell students, the College-owned prairie down Interstate Highway 80 is much more than a place to do biological research — though plenty of that happens.
It’s a place where you can write, read or paint, listen, canoe, or meditate. The 365-acre Conard Environmental...

Listen to the Marsh Chapel Choir perform music professor John Rommereim’s new piece for mixed choir, “And Glory Shone Around.” The choir premiered the work on Dec. 13. Their Dec. 16 performance was broadcast live on 90.9 WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, and is available on the...

Grinnell College has once again partnered with New York City’s Metropolitan Opera to offer the Met’s 2013-14 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.
Saturday, March 1, watch Borodin’s Prince Igor. Join Bryce Weber for an introductory opera talk at 10:30 a.m. Weber,...

Principal Financial Group will be on campus Tuesday, April 8 to host an Information Session at 7:00 p.m. in JRC 225. We know you’re busy thinking about summer internships, but we’re thinking about your career after college. Principal Financial Group is proud to offer the...

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. — Victor Hugo
Want to improve your ability to speak with the “universal language?” Grinnell offers music scholarships for free or discounted private music lessons.
About the Lessons
Each...

A pre-orientation program is helping put new Grinnellians at ease — a week before classes begin — through tours, workshops, and social events.
“It has helped lower my stress,” says Dasaan McCrimmon, a first-year student from Philadelphia, Pa.
The five-day program introduces...

Matt Nonnenmann, assistant professor of occupational and environmental health, University of Iowa, is on campus Monday, April 14 for two events:
4:15 p.m., Noyce Science Center, Room 1021
Roundtable about graduate study in the health professions at the University of Iowa and...

Among the 100 or so different student jobs on campus, Lizzy Steuber ’14 knew which one she wanted — phonathon caller.
The job could be intimidating to a phone-phobic person who would rather scrub pots and pans.
But Boyd Monson ’16 offers reassurance. “Once you talk to a few...

Iowa State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, who has represented the state’s 35th district, including Des Moines, since 2007, will speak at Grinnell College at 8 p.m. Monday, May 5.
His talk, “Real Conversation, Removing the Mask,” will take place in the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center...

A feminist author and activist will discuss women and their connection to the land as part of a series sponsored by the Center for Prairie Studies.
Silvia Federici, emerita professor of political philosophy and international studies at Hofstra University, will deliver "...

Groundbreaking author and transgender activist Janet Mock will discuss her best-selling book during Pride Week.
“It’s important that people on this campus get to see someone like Janet Mock speak about her life and struggle,” says Javon Garcia ’14, a senior in gender, women’s,...

Remy Ferber’s love affair with Grinnell College began at night.
The beautiful, modern buildings mixed with distinguished, historic ones impressed her as she toured the campus with her father.
“I kind of fell in love with the school then and there,” says Ferber ‘14, a fourth-year...

“It’s really valuable to do research outside of your classroom lab,” says Emily Stuchiner ’15, a biology major with a concentration in environmental studies. She worked on a research project at Columbia University in New York. “If you’re an aspiring biologist or scientist, this...

Drone use has become prolific, despite a lack of public knowledge and debate, says an expert who will speak during a symposium on drones and drone warfare.
“The issue of how drones are used, both in warfare and in domestic spaces, is one of the most vital social problems of our...

The Grinnell College Libraries are excited to announce the release of the new digital archive of the Scarlet & Black student newspaper. This online archive provides free access to the College's archive of the Scarlet & Black newspaper from the first issue in 1894 through...

More than 3,350 pounds of food — about the weight of a Ford Mustang — was donated to families in the Grinnell community during the 2013­–14 school year.
This intensive effort was led by Dylan Bondy ’16, who started the Grinnell College chapter of the Food Recovery Network (FRN)...

The Grinnell Singers will present their spring concert under the direction of guest conductor Scott Jarrett on Sunday, April 6, at 2 p.m. in Sebring-Lewis Hall.
Scott Jarrett is one of the country’s leading choral conductors. He is Director of Choral Activities at Boston...

At Grinnell, an array of class-related experiences outside of the main academic buildings gives students a chance to dig deeper into topics in real-world settings.
Take Asani Seawell’s Advanced Health Psychology course, for example. Seawell, an associate professor of psychology...

Every student pays a few hundred dollars a year to the College in the form of the student activities fee. The College immediately gives that money back to the student body to do with as it wishes, from bringing speakers to campus to having concerts nearly every weekend.
Any...

Two different productions of Eugene O’Neill’s 1921 play Anna Christie will be performed Oct. 9–12, offering an opportunity to juxtapose the musical and theatrical traditions of China and the United States.
The award-winning Ningbo Yong Opera Troupe from Ningbo, China, will visit...

Grinnell College students interested in working in public health can now begin their careers more quickly, thanks to a new cooperative degree program linking Grinnell and the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health.
The new program will enable Grinnell students from any...

Sarah Weitekamp ’15 spent her summer poring over underground publications and KGB records for her Mentored Advanced Project (MAP). Translating as she went, she scoured her sources for accounts of Lithuanian Catholics being oppressed by the Soviet secret police. She worked with...

College students often wonder how their chosen areas of study will affect their future.
The third annual Humanities Student Symposium, to be held April 7-9, will highlight student research and help students understand how the humanities can offer a wealth of life and career...

One class of Grinnell students is taking advantage of a unique opportunity: composing music for a Grammy-winning vocal ensemble.
Roomful of Teeth will present a performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 27 in Sebring-Lewis Hall. It will be the premiere of several works by students of...

When Isabella “Izzy” Sanchez Leo ’14 noticed an increase in racist and xenophobic outbursts in European soccer games, she developed the topic into a paper she will present Friday during Grinnell College’s Peace Studies Conference.
“Soccer is the most popular sport in the world,...

The best place to study is the one that makes you comfortable and productive. Depending on your habits and your personality, your needs may be highly specific. Fortunately, Grinnell has a wide spectrum of study spaces to suit everyone’s needs, so we’ll be ready for you once you...

Summer in Grinnell may seem quiet. But four Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) students who are working with Sarah Purcell ’92, professor of history, find it the best time to focus on in-depth research.
The students are working on independent projects related to deaths in the U.S....

For Eliza Honan ’14, the social responsibility that permeates a Grinnell education led to an independent major. As she pursued her studies, she worked to make local food more affordable and accessible.
Honan declared an independent major in sustainable development in her third...

Ana Novak ’14 loves science. She also loves dance. Through independent work and a yearlong Mentored Advanced Project (MAP), she combined her passions to both teach and learn.
Dancing DNA
When Novak was a second-year, Celeste Miller, associate professor of theatre and dance,...

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Laura “Lola” Baltzell ’83 and Christiane Carney Johnson ’83 will discuss the collaborative process they used to create the War and Peace Project exhibited through Dec. 7 in Burling Gallery. Their gallery talk is free and open to the public, and will start...

Thursday, April 3, four experts on technology in higher education share their ideas about the intersection of liberal arts with teaching and learning technologies.
Speakers’ bios, the schedule, and descriptions of presentations are available online.
Also included are several...

In one month over the summer, the average person might get through a novel or two. Joe Engleman ’14 (pictured) wrote one. Both he and Gavin Warnock ’14, a physics/studio art major, were accepted to the Emerging Artist Residency at Grin City Collective.
Grin City sits on a 320-...

Earlier this year, inventive jazz pianist Herbie Hancock '60 discussed “The Ethics of Jazz” as Harvard’s 2014 Norton Lecturer.
His six-lecture series is now available online:
The Wisdom of Miles Davis
Breaking the Rules
Cultural Diplomacy and the Voice of Freedom
Innovation and...

Grinnell’s First-Year Tutorial is the one class you’ll have in common with every other first-year student. It’s a small seminar class, usually limited to 12 students, and the only course required for all majors in Grinnell’s individually advised curriculum.
The First-Year...

Historian Priya Satia investigates the tactics used by British agents in the Middle East during World War I.
Satia, associate professor of modern British history at Stanford University, authored Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert...

Grinnell College is hosting a reading group for The Grinnell Beowulf translation. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the college are invited to participate by reading this epic poem and joining in a series of discussions with Assistant Professor of English Tim...

Composer and sound artist Abby Aresty investigates the world through its sounds. This year, she’s inviting others to share her path.
October 11 marks the debut of Aresty’s The Listening Path — a creative, site-specific listening composition at Grinnell’s Conard Environmental...

Eric Mistry ’14 loves to experiment in the kitchen, even when the kitchen is actually Grinnell's dining hall.
Taking full advantage of the ingredients available, from the spice rack and salad bar to the daily entrees, he knows how to keep things fresh. Here he explains what led...

Daniel S. Pine ’85, a section chief at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and a leading researcher on mood and anxiety disorders in young people, will deliver the Scholars’ Convocation at noon Wednesday, March 5.
Pine’s talk, “Seeking the Origins of Mental Illness...

Author Elizabeth Kolbert, a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of the new bestseller The Sixth Extinction: A Natural History, will deliver the Scholars’ Convocation at noon Wednesday, April 2, in Room 101 of the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center.
Kolbert’s talk, “The Sixth...

Wondering what you can do with a Russian degree? Daniel Wolfe ’99 knows many ways to use one. After graduation, Wolfe thrived in a handful of diverse careers — translating for a music company in Russia, working for a video game company in corporate America, and teaching music to...

Peter Beck ’02, a senior analyst for the Government Accountability Office, will discuss “The State of Federal Performance” in a roundtable discussion at noon Thursday, Feb. 27, in the Burling Library Lounge.
Beck will also give a talk on "Careers in Government” in Rosenfield...

Grinnell College Libraries are excited to share our student-narrated video tours of Burling Library.
Enjoy these short virtual tours on Burling's computing area, circulation and research desks, lounge, and hidden gems. Please send us feedback to suggest new topics and let us...

Jill Davis Schrift, lecturer in art, explains how she combines traditional forms with contemporary techniques to create the texture on the vases displayed in her exhibition Works of Clay.
In her second solo exhibition at the Faulconer Gallery, Schrift creates ceramic work to...

Would you like to help us identify the people and events in the College's photograph collection in Digital Grinnell?
Digital Grinnell is getting a transcribing and captioning enhancement. You can now add text to the pictures and enhance the understanding of Grinnell’s rich...

The Grinnell College Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome 12 new members.
The Hall was created in 1995 to recognize the achievements of the college’s most accomplished student athletes.
This year’s inductees will be honored on Saturday, Aug. 30. A morning ceremony, reception, and...

A seasoned diplomat will delve into the growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia in his talk on Nov. 20.
Ambassador Ian Kelly will deliver the lecture “The U.S., Russia, and Bridging the East-West Divide” at 4:15 p.m., Nov. 20 in the Alumni Recitation Hall, Room 302.
“...

From Feb. 3-6, Grinnell College's Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights will sponsor a free, public symposium.
"Chicago: Urban Issues and Social Justice in the Windy City" will feature speakers and panelists from across the country, and...

Under what circumstances do civil rights laws get enforced? Why do authorities seem to protect certain civil rights, while ignoring others?
These are the big questions that Douglas Hess ’91, assistant professor of political science, seeks to answer in his research on the...

A Familiar Face Returns to the Libraries
Karla Landers joined us as a library assistant in Acquisitions and Serials department in December 2013.
Karla has ten years of library experience, working previously in Burling Library (Serials, Acquisitions, Government Documents, and...

New Faces, New Roles
Chris Jones has been appointed Grinnell’s special collections librarian and archivist of the College. Since 2010, Chris has served as library assistant in special collections here at Grinnell. Previously, Chris worked in the Rare Book & Manuscript...

In fall 2014, students enrolling in the newly redesigned course Computer Science 322: Team Software Development for Community Organizations will help test a new approach to alumni participation in the curriculum.
Janet Davis, associate professor of computer science, has...

"Winter at Grinnell" exhibition, Dec. 1, 2014 to Feb. 28, 2014, Burling Library, Special Collections and Archives
The exhibit Winter at Grinnell is now on display in the Special Collection and Archives reading room. The display highlights winter activities that have occurred on...

Acclaimed writer Jess Row will give a reading as part of the Writers@Grinnell creative writing series.
The reading will be held at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 in the Alumni Recitation Hall, Room 302. This event is free and open to the public.
A native of Washington, D.C., Row...

Note: Venue has changed from Faulconer Gallery to Sebring-Lewis Hall.
Celebrated poet Mary Szybist will read from her latest book, Incarnadine, a 2013 National Book Award for Poetry, during the Writers@Grinnell creative writing series.
Szybist will give a presentation at 4:15 p....

Dean Bakopoulos, writer-in-residence and assistant professor of English at Grinnell College, took a break from editing his third novel, Summerlong, to talk about writing, teaching, and James Franco. Here’s what he had to say:
Summerlong
Summerlong is about four main characters...

Grinnell College is sponsoring a workshop featuring listening meditations of the prairie and a lecture on soundscape studies at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, in Faulconer Gallery. The event is free and open to the public.
The workshop, titled “Prairie Listening and the...

Watch the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera 2014–15 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.
Saturday, Dec. 13, see Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
James Levine returns to one of his signature Wagner works conducting this epic comedy—back at the Met for...

Watch the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera 2014–15 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.
Saturday, Nov. 22, see Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville).
The Met’s effervescent production of Rossini’s classic comedy – featuring some of...

Watch the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera 2014–15 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.
Saturday, Oct. 18, see Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro).
Met Music Director James Levine conducts a spirited new production of Mozart’s...

The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Jacques Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" will be streamed live in high-definition at noon Saturday, Jan. 31, in Harris Center Cinema.
In this wild, kaleidoscopic production, tenor Vittorio Grigolo takes on the title role of Hoffmann in...

Watch the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera 2014–15 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.
Saturday, October 11, see Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth.
Star soprano Anna Netrebko delivers her searing portrayal of Lady Macbeth, the mad and murderous mate of Željko Lučić’s...

Watch the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera 2014–15 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.
Saturday, Jan. 17, see Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow.
The great Renée Fleming stars as the beguiling femme fatale who captivates all Paris in Lehár’s enchanting operetta, seen...